newbie

[Zoughtbaj]

Coming from both the Seattle and Oregon Regionals, I can say that there are lots of cool ideas out there. My team has also invested in a button press which works wonders for our team, but there's lots of ideas out there. I remember that team 488 made little clip on FIRST logo earings last year that were cool. Mardi graw beads are another great one, I remember team Jack-in-the-Bot doing those (They were a Mardi graw-themed team). Team 847 is kind of construction themed, and last year they had this really neat construction yellow tape with their team name on it, that stuff was great. Another team had some glow sticks that were fun too.

Point is, there are lots of ways to go about it, and don't worry too much about it either; its a fun aspect of FIRST, but not essential. The best advice I could give would be to go and get an idea of how many people show up the first time so you are prepared for next year/competition.

[AlexD744]

Considering there has been a lot of talk about buttons, let me add that it is not required to give out buttons, so if you set out a bowl of a certain amount each day, and once they're gone, just tell people "Sorry, come back tomorrow."

Another thing about Friday night is that this is when most teams create their (rough) lists for Saturday Alliance Selections. So there is typically a lengthy meeting regarding this, although often it is not the whole team. So whatever you decide to do, plan accordingly.

[StevenB]

Food: 1519 has always done our own food, rather than buying food in the arena. It's easy for us, since we usually have a ton of other family members involved.

Someone (often my mother) buys a bunch of lunch meat, sandwich rolls, etc, and others bring fruit, snacks, and cookies. Then a parent with a van loads it all up and parks as close to the arena as possible for an hour while the team goes in shifts to eat. It's a lot cheaper, more filling, and way healthier. And honestly, you need to get out of the arena for a few minutes to enjoy the fresh air and relative silence.

PS - If you go to St. Louis, don't pre-order your lunch.

[je2164]

Thank you all so much. One of the things I'm loving about being involved in FRC is all the great attitudes and help we have been getting. I can't wait to take it all in and be able to turn around next year and help out some other rookie team. All this advice gives me a great place to start and some wonderful ideas. Good luck to you all!!!!!

[RoboMom]

Hi Jamie,

NEMO, which Madison linked, is filled with mentors who have been in your shoes - and survived.

We are trying to update the resources page, but there are some suggestions here which may help you: http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm Some of these mentor written papers are aimed specifically at rookies.

You are off to a great start because you are asking the questions.

There are also teams who have some great resources aimed at rookies. I like http://rookiefirsts.tumblr.com/home and http://moe365.org/moementum/moementum.php but there are also lots of others.

You will also discover that everyone at the events are happy to help.

Don't Panic!

[je2164]

You are all making me feel better already. We have so many people focusing on the actual "building" part, I'm trying to make sure I do my part and keep those kids who have down time working on all those non-robotic kinds of things. Thanks for all your support. I'm sure as time ticks on I'll have more moments of panic. Although, it does help to know there is so much support out there. Sometimes just figuring out how to navigate the sites is an all day process, but I'm learning.